Obviously, even with exceptional test scores, ECs, grades, class rank, etc. getting into those top few schools is a crapshoot. If, hypothetically, an LGBT student with ideal stats and so forth were to apply to these top colleges, would their being lgbt help their application any? By this I don’t just mean them saying “I’m gay, accept me to Harvard” I mean if they wrote their supplement essay about it and how they were impacted by this fact, etc. Would this give them any type of advantage?
(Please note that I am not asking because I’m considering falsifying any part of my application. I’m simply asking out of curiosity. I know how much other factors like being an URM or having legacy impact admissions and I was wondering if being LGBT has a similar effect in any way).
I mean obviously being lgbt wouldn’t get you any tags on your app but would it at least make you stand out? Perhaps in the same way coming from a disadvantaged home would?
These days it means nothing in the application process. There are lots of LGBT students, and many are casually open about it in their essays and/or ECs. It will give you no boost, nor will it hinder you except at a few very conservative religious schools. You will have to look for your application boost elsewhere.
If you were disadvantaged by being LGBT then write a good essay, then it will help by giving you a good essay.
Make it believable though, nowadays more and more people (especially young liberal high schoolers like everyone on this site lol) are more accepting of the LGBT community and there is less hardships than before in some areas.
Selective schools have been way ahead of the curve in creating safe spaces for LGBT students for many decades. So the proportion of LGBT students in their population has likewise been quite high for a long, long time. So it’s something admissions officers won’t even look at.